Helpdesk Agent Autopilot
The AI Agent Autopilot feature must be enabled in your Capacity Organization to see the features described below. Coordinate with your Customer Support representative to enable the feature.
The Helpdesk Agent Autopilot feature uses the power of AI Agents to handle Helpdesk tickets. AI Agents can be used to search your knowledge base and send replies, handle multiple email conversations, detect spam, and more.
This document will cover…
- Important warning
- How to setup Helpdesk Agent Autopilot
- How Helpdesk Agent Autopillot works
- How to escalate from an AI Agent
- AI Agent Reply email template
Important Warning
People emailing have access to all knowledge base information to which the AI Agent has access. There is no authentication check when searching the knowledge base. Agent autopilot should be treated the same as a public and unauthenticated Concierge bot.
Be careful what Knowledge Base sources you provide to the AI Agent. Only select or add sources which can be shared publicly
How to setup Helpdesk Agent Autopilot
To set up your AI Agent Autopilot, you will want to work with someone familiar with AI Agents in Capacity. The most important part of Autopilot is how the AI Agent is set up to behave, including the prompt, tools, and other required settings. If you have a Customer Support representative, you may wish to work with them to build your Autopilot experience.
To set up your AI Agent Autopilot, follow these steps.
- Create your desired AI Agent in Capacity settings. A common example is an Agent which searches your Knowledge Base and sends replies on a ticket
- Go to Settings, then the specific “Inbox” settings of the inbox that will use the AI Agent
- From the “Process incoming emails” section, select the “Agent Autopilot” radio option
- Select the AI Agent you want to run when tickets are created or replies are received
- Send an email to the inbox to see the AI Agent automatically assigned to the ticket
How Helpdesk Agent Autopilot works
The Helpdesk Agent Autopilot feature uses AI Agents built in the Capacity settings to run AI Agents in the Helpdesk.
When Agent Autopilot is enabled, and an AI Agent is assigned in the settings, the AI Agent system user will automatically be added as the “assignee” on the ticket when it is created from an external email. AI Agent system users that are assigned on the ticket run on the following triggers.
- The ticket was created from an external email
- External replies are received
For the AI Agent to run, the AI Agent system user must be the “Assignee” on the ticket.
To stop the AI Agent from running on future replies, users may “take over” for the AI Agent by using the banner on the ticket, unassigning the AI Agent user from the ticket, or assigning the ticket to another user.
When an email is received in an inbox with Agent Autopilot turned on, the assigned AI Agent is triggered and will follow the instructions provided in its prompt. That includes using tools, which may include searching your Knowledge Base, adding tags to a ticket, or crafting and sending a reply.
Future replies also trigger the assigned AI Agent to run. The AI Agent will have the context of the ticket, and can continue the conversation provided it has the correct instructions and tools.
While the most common use case for Agent Autopilot may be to handle questions and send replies. There is no limit on what you can assign your AI Agent to do. They can be built to update third parties like Salesforce, or even to just add drafts for Human Agents to handle. The only limitation is when the AI Agent will be triggered
Agent Autopilot in the Helpdesk
One of the primary advantages of using Agent Autopilot is how it integrates seamlessly with the Helpdesk. Assigned AI Agents are treated just like normal Helpdesk Agent users, which allows Helpdesk Agents and Managers to easily take over for AI Agents, and track AI Agent activity on the ticket.
AI Agents activity on a ticket can be tracked by:
- A banner showing the AI Agent user is currently the assignee on the ticket, with a button to easily take over from the agent
- The AI Agent shows as the assignee on the ticket. If the AI Agent is the assignee, new replies will trigger a “run” by the AI Agent
- Replies sent by AI Agents show as sent by the AI Agent user
- AI Agent activity thread items allow Admins and Helpdesk Managers to review the AI Agent activity
Actions the AI Agent user takes will also be tracked in the ticket history, just like normal Helpdesk Agent users.
How to escalate from an AI Agent
The AI Agent will run for a specific ticket if the following requirements are met.
- The AI Agent must be selected as the AI Agent in the inbox settings
- The AI Agent must be assigned on the ticket
To have the AI Agent automatically “escalate” to a Human Agent, the AI Agent prompt needs to leverage the Helpdesk App’s “Update ticket” or “Unassign ticket” tool to “unassign” the AI Agent, or assign the ticket to another user.
To manually escalate a ticket away from an AI Agent or prevent it from running, Helpdesk Agents can unassign the AI Agent user from the ticket or use the take over button in the banner.
AI Agent Reply email template
To allow users to customize the way AI Agent replies look in comparison to normal Helpdesk Agents , we’ve added a default email template to the Email Templates. Use the “AI Agent Reply” template to customize Helpdesk replies sent by AI Agent users.
A common customization is to add a phrase such as:
This response is AI generated. To escalate, ask to speak with a human.
Read more about customizing email templates here.
Once you’ve either edited the default template, or created a new “custom” email template, an admin user will need to update the assigned template in the inbox settings under “AI Agent Reply”.
We recommend using a custom template and assigning that as the AI Agent Reply email template.